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Vivace’s singing cyclists stop off en route to London
A GROUP of singing cyclists
received rapturous applause
when
they
rode
into
Guildford town centre on
Sunday.
Eleven
~
singers
from
Guildford’s Vivace Chorus
were nearly at the end of
their 200-mile ride from
Paris to London, to raise
money for the Rainbow
Trust children’s charity.
Team members chose the
route to coincide with their
performance
‘Mr Todd’s eight-year-old
daughter, Rowan, has a
brain tumour and his family
has relied on the Rainbow
Trust for support with care
and treatment.
He said: “The Rainbow
Trust has been an amazing
support for us. They have
started where the hospital
stops.
“They provide practical
Verdi’s
support as well as being a
Requiem in the Royal Albert
shoulder to cry on. They are
amazing and we value their
support enormously.”
The cyclists arrived at
Tunsgate in Guildford on
Sunday and they continued
into London the following
_day, completing the route.
James Garrow, 66, chairman of the Vivace Chorus,
said: “There were 11 of us
who set off on Friday
afternoon.
Hall
of
service at St Paul’s Cathedral
in 2012.
on Sunday May
18.
.They wanted to start in Paris
as this is where the composer started writing this work.
The choir decided to raise
funds for the Rdinbow Trust
because of its connection
with Guildford-based composer Will Todd, who was
asked to write a piece for a
children’s choir for the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
“Will Todd is a great
friend of the choir. We have
raised nearly £10,000 for
them.
“It was worse in anticipation than actually doing it.
We weren’t blessed with the
best weather - we had some
beautiful times and some
wet times.”
]
Cyclist and choir member
Michael Jeffery, 80, of Broad
Street
Common,
added:
“The reception was staggering. It was an achievement.”
The idea of doing the
charity ride came from tenor Owen Gibbons, a keen
cyclist and a relatively new
member of the choir.
“Not long after I joined, I
heard about this fantastic
opportunity we were being
given to sing at the Royal.
Albert Hall,” he said.
scale and we needed to
“It's an expensive busi- make as many people as
ness for an amateur choir to
put on a concert on this
possible aware of it.
“It seemed like the perfect
excuse to do something a bit
time.”
London on Mondav.
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